Water purification system with automatic flush flow

Abstract

The improved water purification system includes a water purification unit having a tap water inflow port for receiving a tap water inflow from a water supply system to produce relatively purified water and a brine water outflow having impurities concentrated therein. An RO filter having an RO membrane separates relatively unfiltered water flow into purified water and the brine water outflow. A flush flow activation chamber fluidly coupled to the brine water outflow includes a plunger for substantially occluding brine water outflow through the brine outflow port when seated, and substantially permits brine water outflow to exit the purification unit through the brine outflow port when unseated. Accordingly, the activation chamber generates back pressure within the water purification system to flash flow tap water inflow into the purification unit and through the RO membrane when the plunger moves from being seated to unseated, thereby substantially refreshing said RO membrane.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention generally relates to improvements in water purification systems of the type having a reverse osmosis (RO) unit or the like for removing dissolved ionic material and other contaminants from an ordinary supply of tap water or the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved water purification system having automatic flush flow for intermittently and automatically self-cleaning a reverse osmosis membrane and refreshing particulate catalyst matter in related pre- or post-filters.[0002]Water purification systems in general are well-known in the art of the type having a reverse osmosis (RO) unit or membrane for converting an incoming supply of ordinary tap or feed water into relatively purified water for use in cooking, drinking, etc. In general terms, the reverse osmosis unit includes a semi-permeable RO membrane through which a portion of the tap water supply passes, such that the membrane acts essentially a...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006]The water purification system with automatic flush flow disclosed herein includes a water purification unit having a tap water inflow port for receiving a tap water inflow from a water supply system to produce a supply of relatively purified water discharged from said unit via a purified water outflow port, and a brine water outflow having impurities concentrated therein and discharged from said unit via a brine outflow port. The purification unit also includes an RO filter having an RO membrane for separating relatively unfiltered water flow into the purified water and brine water outflows. A flush flow activation chamber fluidly coupled to the brine water outflow has a plunger that substantially occludes the brine water outflow through the brine outflow port when in a first seated position, and substantially permits brine water outflow to exit the purification unit through the brine outflow port when in a second unseated position. The activation chamber generates back pressure within the water purification system to flash flow tap water inflow into the purification unit and through the RO membrane when the plunger moves from the first position to the second position, thereby substantially refreshing said RO membrane.

[0007]Further with respect to the flush flow activation chamber, the plunger is generally an elongated cylindrical body having a substantially frusto-conical head sized for at least partial insertion into a seat adjacent the brine outflow port. This frusto-conical head includes a slot that permits brine water outflow through the brine water outflow port when the plunger is in the first seated position. Additionally, the plunger may also include a fin that at least partially increases fluid turbulence within the activation chamber for increasing activation back pressure, which may beneficially increase cleaning across the RO membrane.

[0014]The plunger moves between the closed and open positions in response to a back pressure within the multi-cartridge unit. In this respect, the plunger effectively releases the back pressure at some threshold pressure by being pulled out from the closed position. This permits a flash flow of water over the RO membrane and through the particulate catalyst. To this end, the plunger may include a fin for increasing said threshold pressure. This mechanism substantially refreshes the RO membrane and stirs the particulate catalyst to prevent channeling. The plunger may include an elongated cylindrical body having a substantially frusto-conical head sized to occlude the brine outflow port. Additionally, the plunger may also include a slot formed from the frusto-conical head to permit brine water outflow through the brine water outflow port when the plunger is in the closed position. The flash flow of water through the post-membrane cartridge is sufficient to lift and turbulently stir the particulate catalyst media inside in a manner to remove an oxidation layer thereon and for flushing this removed oxidation layer out from the post-membrane cartridge. This feature of the water purification system effectively refreshes the particulate catalyst media.

Problems solved by technology

One disadvantage associated with reverse osmosis water purification systems relates to the fact that retentate or brine outflow from the RO membrane is normally discarded as waste.

Another disadvantage associated with reverse osmosis water purification systems relates to the typically limited service life of the RO membrane and other pre- and post-filter elements.

Despite the fact that cartridge replacement may be required only once each year, and despite efforts to make cartridge changeover an intuitively simple process, many customers are reluctant to handle this task.

Instead, replacement of the various RO system cartridges has largely remained the responsibility of a water service company, thereby entailing regular and relatively costly service calls to each customer's residence or place of business.

The requirement for regular service calls dramatically increases the overall operating cost of the RO system, thereby reducing or eliminating apparent advantages relative to conventional bottled water coolers and related bottle delivery systems.

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